Great topic!! Nautical and Tiki Bars go hand in hand or CAN if they are done properly. I sure love seeing the connections in all the different pictures.

I know the Tonga Room has been noted but I wanted to share this early (Late 1940's) postcard when it was done like a large ship. It is a great view from behind the bar and you can see the Tiki Hut (in center) where the band played floating to the middle of the water.

I will skip the early/mid 1960's picture of the Tonga Room (oriental style theme) and show you the following great picture after it went to the more nautical look that it has to this day.

Oh, mug collectors, check out the three face bucket mugs being used on the tables on the left hand side! It's always cool to see pictures of the mugs in use!

The next picture is of a place someone had mentioned in this post earlier. It is a nice postcard that has a drawing of The Warehouse Restaurant in Marina Del Ray, California. I believe this picture is in Book Of Tiki as well. Not Tiki per say, but a cool looking place. They did have there own Barrel mugs available.

I don't remember the name of the place it's in the small beach town of Cayucos on the ocean side of the main street. It's small (I think there is only 8 ot 10 tables downstairs and an ocean view bar upstairs) but you can't miss it.

On 2008-02-29 20:29, bongofury wrote:I don't remember the name of the place it's in the small beach town of Cayucos on the ocean side of the main street. It's small (I think there is only 8 ot 10 tables downstairs and an ocean view bar upstairs) but you can't miss it.

On 2007-05-04 08:28, Swanky wrote:I just read this. The place in Atlanta is Dante's Down the Hatch. It doesn't get much more nautical than that! A ship right in the restaurant! My idea was to make my bar like the prow of a ship and everyone sits around the outside... Flash site. Can't post images.

Yeas, it IS a Flash-site, but I DO have a way of posting images, and I'll soon be posting a BUNCH!

But here's ONE just for starters...

And Bigbro's right -- they sure don't make 'em like THAT anymore! This place is themed within an inch of it's life! It's like an even more elaborate version of the French Marketplace in West Hollywood with a huge ship stuck in the middle, or Disneyland's Blue Bayou -- minus the bayou!

And since we're on a nautical theme here on this thread, I'll re-post a few images of Marina Del Rey's vintage (60's) and gorgeous The Warehouse...

Sven pointed out that House Of Blues clearly "stole" their design vibe from this place.

And, speaking of the Svenster , here're two of his lovely Warehouse images...

Hard to get decent pics inside 'cause it's SO bloody dark. GREAT for ambiance. NOT great for photography...

See what I mean?

Actually, it wouldn't take a whole lot to transform The Warehouse into a first class tiki palace, what with the lagoon out front complete with flaming tiki torches, and all the float-lights, etc. And it would take even less work to make it a quasi-tiki/nautical fusion place.

Heck, it already HAS a token tiki presence inside with two quasi-tiki poles. Here's one of 'em...

Frankly I'm just grateful this classic slice of 60's restaurant goodness is still there and in excellent condition. When I went there recently for the first time, my jaw dropped. Having grown up in L.A. in the 60's I thought HOW did I manage to miss THIS place? It was like stepping into a vintage restaurant time machine!

Here's a fine matchbook I found from a cool looking place in Oakland. One can only assume that it was nautical inside, being named after one of the finest (partially South Sea) writers and skippers there ever was:

Is that Yoshis Now?

That place is still there, and nope, it's not Yoshi's. It's now Scott's Seafood. (Yoshi's is across the street). My dad also remembers The Bow and Bell restaurant - he's not sure if it was the same building as this one or different. Evidently Joe Dimaggio was partner in one of these.

Sea Wolf was a fine slightly upscale seafood place, similar to it's successor, Scott's [but not part of a chain]. The nautical theme was not particularly predominent; it was just a nice place on the water. The name came from the fact that the district is known as Jack London Square, not from any really strong attempt to build a theme around him or his travels.

Bow and Bell was next store. We went there from time to time when I was a kid, but I don't remember it very much. If I recall correctly, it was roughly where a Caribbean place called Miss Pearl's Jam House is now; the old building is long gone and the footprints don't correlate very well. B&B was part owned by a then-prominent local athlete named Jackie Jenson; I don't think Joe D was ever involved in any business around the Square, but I could be wrong.

The Square was also the site of a rooftop restaurant named The Castaway. I don't remember it as well as I should, but it definitely has a Poly flair, with nets and fishing floats and tropical foliage and the like.

Port of Call (Port o' Call?) in New Orleans would definitely be a hit for this thread. Very very port-ish, lotsa bamboo, and a couple of lame tikis. On the edge of The Quarter.
*Best* burgers in the city.

I was there a couple of weeks ago- it was SO dark and grungy inside I really only saw some nautical rope and bamboo in the dark haze- but they did have killer rum drinks at $5 a pop! My friend raved about her burger- I ate her baked potato.